The impact of Matthew Shepard's murder discussed at a public forum at Arena Stage

Few plays have taken root in the public consciousness — and served as the public conscience — as has “The Laramie Project,” Moises Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project’s intimate narrative of the murder of Matthew Shepard and the impact of the crime on the people of Laramie, Wyo.

With the arrival of the 10th anniversary of the play, Kaufman and Tectonic came to Washington’s Arena Stage in November 2010 for a production of both “The Laramie Project” and “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later,” the first-ever same-day production of both plays. On Nov. 20, Metro Weekly brought together Kaufman and members of Tectonic, along with U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez and SMYAL Executive Director Andrew Barnett, for a community forum to discuss the impact of the Shepard murder, the legacy of Laramie, and how our culture perceives itself on the issue of hate crimes.

The forum, moderated by Metro Weekly co-publisher Sean Bugg, was filmed for broadcast and is presented here in its entirety in three installments. Special thanks to Arena Stage and Tectonic Theater Project for making this community forum possible.

Randy Shulman is Metro Weekly's Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. He can be reached at rshulman@metroweekly.com.